Cantilever rack



D. FRAZIER CANTILEVER RACK May 17, 1966 Filed Dec. 9, 1964 23 FIG. 4

ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,251,478 I Y CANTILEVER RACK. DonaldFrazier, R.D. 1, Mendham Road, Far Hills, NJ.

Filed Dec. 9, 1964, Ser. No. 417,193

6 Claims. (Cl. 211-176) This invention relates generally to cantileverracks, and specifically to front loading brackets for such racks, withlocking retainers. vIt is an object of the invention to provide acantilever rack which has the convenience of front loading brackets.

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cal column 12 may be standard stock. The vertical coly' umn r12 isprovided-with a series of holes 13 in the web A portion of the rear faceor rear wall y16. The vertical It is yet another object of the inventionto provide a cantilever rack with rigid locking retainers.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a cantilever rackwhich is economical, .by reason of the use of standard, mill-rolledbeams which arerelatively inexpensive.

Another object of the invention is to provide a canti lever rack whichis extremely -exible in use, is fully adjus'table to intermediateheights, may be single or double sided, is free standing, may be coupledin a series with other columns, is sturdy and safe because thecantilever arms are entirely free of accidental displacement yet are atall times readily adjustable.

These objects and advantages, as well as other objects and advantagesmay be attained by the rack shown by way of illustration of theinventive concept vin the drawings in which: Y A Y FIGURE 1 is aview `inperspective of a cantilever rack;

FIGURE 2 is a view in perspective of a portion of an H-beam column;

FIGURE 3 is a view in perspective of a cantilever ann;

FIGURE 4 is a top view of a portion of the cantilever arm; a

FIGURE 5 is a view in perspective of a retainer;

FIGURE 6 is a top, partially sectioned view of a column, with acantilever arm locked in place by the retainer;

FIGURE 7 is a partially sectioned view in perspective o'f a column, witha'cantilever arm locked in place by a retainer.

Cantilever rack systems which are adjustable are often inconvenient, forthey cannot be readily moved, the' arms are not readily added asrequired, nor are they readily removable if not required; they arecostly since they are made from specially fabricated parts, and arediicult to adjust. `It has been found that cantilever arms may beprovided for a rack system which can easily be front loaded (i.e.applied to an H-beam at any chosen point on the face without beinghoisted to the top of the beam in order to be titted into embracingrelationship with the beam). Likewise, the described cantilever arm canbe removed Without being lifted over and oi at the top. Yet such acantilever arm can be quickly and easily attached to the Habeam withoutany danger of it slipping. The H-beams stand free in their own sturdybase and need no attachment to any wall surface to sustain them.

They can 'be made to many desired different heights, with cross-bracingof various widths, and many cantilever arms may be applied. C-antileverarms may be added, subtracted, and readjusted to suit the requirementsof the user. The positive positioning of the cantilever arms does notpermit any loose attachment that might result in the arms assuming aposition in which the outer end is below horizontal.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the cantilever rack provides abase 111, which may be an H-beam of 'standard design. A vertical column12 in the form of an.

H-beam is attached to the base 11. Likewise, this verticolumn 12 isbraced by side plates 18 connecting the vertical column 12 and the base11. The vertical co1- umns 12, mounted on a base 11, are arranged inpairs (see FIG. 1) and secured together by spacer assemblies .19attached to the columns 12. lf the columns are to be used with bothfront and rear cantilever arms, the base 11 may be extended rearwardlyto provide balance for the back load.

A bracket of special design is provided for the columns i12. In thertigures, the bracket 20 is shown shorter than it actually would be inorder that it may not obscure other details if drawn to scale. Thebracket 20 has a generally U-shaped horizontal cross section with afront wall 21 which has an internal width (as shown in FIG. 6) which iswider than either of the faces 15, l16 of the H-beam. This extra widthis necessary -to enable the bracket 20 to bel applied to the face 15without hoisting it to the top of and sliding vit down the face 15 ofthe column 12. The bracket 10 has Arearwardly extending legs 22, 2.12which embrace the column 12. The .bracket 20 is provided with twogenerally vertical ri-bs 23, 25 on the inner aspect of the legs 22, I22.These ribs 23, 25 are positioned differently from each other. The tirstrib 23 isvspaced away :from the rear wall 24 of the bracket 20 adistance only suicient to receive the end portion of i the face 15 ofthe column 12. The second rib 25, however, is spaced away a sufiicientdistance to receive the opposite end portion of the face '15 and also toreceive a leg of a retainer 26 as shown in FIGURE 6.

The retainer or angle 26 has two legs; a front leg 27, and a rear leg28. The retainer 26 has a number of elongated bolt slots 29 in the rearleg 28. When the front leg 27 is engaged with the second rib 25 at theback of the face 1'5, a bolt 30 is inserted through the holes 29, `1,3(or 17) and a nut 31 is applied and tightened. The Ifillet (concavedjunction) 32 is engaged by the convex juncture of the legs 27, 28 andthe retainer is firmly secured to the web ,14. The face 15 is firmlyseized between the bracket 20 and the front leg 27. F or furthersecurity, a stop 33 is attached to the inner aspect of the leg 27, andis positioned to engage the bottom of the second rib 25 on the bracket20. Since the ri-b 23 cannot pass the stop 33, the bracket 20 is bothfunctionally held and is also supported at the chosen level. Thecantilevered arm 34 (usually more ellongatedthan shown) supports thematerial to be stored.

Itis noted that the face 15 is rearwardly thicker immediately adjacentto the fillet 32, so that the retainer 26 will tend to engage only aportion of the back of the face 25 (see FIGURE 6) and will stronglyengage the second rib 25.

A sturdy rack of stability, made of standard structural members isprovided, at low cost, ease of assembly, and convenience of adjustment.

The foregoing description is intended merely to illustrate an embodimentof the invention, for many changes in the selection, construction andarrangement of the parts may be made within the scope of the appendedclaims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

(e) a U-shaped bracket embracing the front Wall,

(f) a first rib on the'inside of the bracket extending lbehind the frontwall at one edge,

(g) a second rib on the inside of the bracket generally opposite thefirst rib,

(h) an L-shaped retainer attached at one end to the web andlongitudinally engaged at the other end with the second rib,

(i) a generally horizontal arm on the front of the bracket.

2. A cantilever rack comprising:

(a) the device -according to claim 1 and (b) a stop on the retainerengaged in supporting relation with the bottom of a rib on the bracket.

3. A cantilever rack comprising:

(a) the device according to claim 1 and (b) the U-shaped bracketdirnensioned sufficiently wide to be fitted horizontally into embracingengagement with the column.

4. A cantilever rack comprising:

(a) the device according to claim 1 and a (b) a rear wall on the columnattached to the end of the web opposite the front wall and generallyparallel to the front wall, l

(c) a bracket and retainer attached to the rear wall in accordance wit-hthe bracket and retainer attached to the front wall.

5. A cantilever rack comprising:

(a) the device according to claim 1 and (lb) a fillet at the juncture ofthe rear ofifront wall and the web,

(c) the retainer pivoting on the fillet to engage the second rib wherebythe rear of the bracket is firmly seated on the front wall. I

6. A cantilever rack comprising:

(la) a base,

(b) a vertical column,

(c) a generally fiat front wall on the column,

(d) a perpendicular, longitudinal, medial web in the rear of the frontwall,

(e) a U-shaped bracket embracing the front wall,

(f) ribs on the opposite inner sides of the U-shaped bracket,

(g) an L-shaped retainer attached to the web at one end,

(h) the other end of the retainer engaged with a rib on the bracket,

(i) the other rib on the bracket engaged with the back of the frontwall,

(j) ia horizontal arm attached to the bracket,

(k) a stop on the retainer engaged with the bottom on a .rib on thebracket.

References Cited by the Examiner Baker et al. 2111-177 30 CLAUDE A. LEROY, Primary Examiner.

R. P. SEITTER, Assistant Examiner.

1. A CANTILEVER RACK COMPRISING: (A) A BASE, (D) A VERTICAL COLUMN ONTHE BASE, (C) A FRONT WALL ON THE COLUMN, (D) A WEB EXTENDINGPERPENDICULARLY FROM THE REAR OF THE FRONT WALL, (E) A U-SHAPED BRACKETEMBRACING THE FRONT WALL, (F) A FIRST RIB ON THE INSIDE OF THE BRACKETEXTENDING BEHING THE FRONT WALL AT ONE EDGE, (G) A SECOND RIB ON THEINSIDE OF THE BRACKET GENERALLY OPPOSITE THE FIRST RIB, (H) AN L-SHAPEDRETAINER ATTACHED AT ONE END TO THE WEB AND LONGITUDINALLY ENGAGED ATTHE OTHER END WITH THE SECOND RIB, (I) A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL ARM ON THEFRONT OF THE BRACKET.